by Caro LaFever
Wanted with every fiber of her soul.
He fell, over and over and over, like a topsy-turvy spinning toy he’d played with as a boy. His head filled with a maze of jumbled thoughts, none of them coherent. His other head filled with needy greed, expressed by the bump of his hips on hers.
He groaned at the warmth of her, the essential female feel of her against his aching cock.
“Riq,” she whispered on his lips.
The ache in his groin surged into something more than the sex. For the first time, she said his name, and without an ounce of judgment or condescension. Instead, his name slid from her mouth with a wistful sweetness as though she’d dreamed of him for her entire life and waited for him to arrive and sweep her away.
The ache shot straight from his cock to his heart. Like an arrow of lust combined with hope.
Hope.
A hope for a woman who knew him, understood him, and still loved him.
With a gasp, he arched away from her, his eyes closing to her appeal, his hands landing on her waist to push her away.
“Riq.” This time his name was a plaintive wail.
“No.” He yanked her arms off his neck and turned, taking off for the village.
“What happened?” she cried from behind him.
What happened was he saw the danger. Finally. Until now, he’d viewed the princesa as a pain in the neck or an amusement. A girl who didn’t know how dangerous she could be. A woman who knew little about real men. A spoiled doll, a mirage.
Maurisa Migneault was no mirage.
He knew that now.
Pacing across the one lane of the village, he tried to pull his brain back online. By the time he’d cleared the entire length of the street, he’d managed to concentrate on the repairs his village needed instead of her. Quite a few, but none he couldn’t handle on his own. Relief flooded through him. This would be his mission then. For the next couple of weeks, for as long as she was here on his island, he’d focus on repairs.
“What do you want me to do now?”
He swiveled in surprise to see her standing not two feet from him. It was unlike him not to sense when another person was close. His Marine skills seemed to vanish into smoke with this woman.
He glowered at her.
Sighing, she returned the glare. “Okay. I kissed you. So what?”
“That’s not why—”
“You’ve kissed me before, why can’t I kiss you?”
“I’m not thinking about—”
“Yes, you are.” She waved a hand at his tented shorts. “You can’t hide from me.”
Embarrassment flooded through him as sure as Hurricane Cindi had flooded through some of these surrounding homes. The best thing he could do was get rid of this woman. Pulling out his trusty watch, he focused on the dials instead of her. “You’re done for the day.”
“I am?” Her pretty mouth gaped. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.” He stuck his hand back into the pocket and grabbed the keys to the Jeep. “You can drive, can’t you?”
She glanced at the keys before swinging her attention back to him, a familiar look of annoyance crossing her face. “Of course.”
“Then take these.” He threw them at her, and in typical fashion, she wasn’t fast enough to catch. Which didn’t seem to worry her. She only took a swift look down before spearing him with her gaze once more. “Drive up to the top of the mountain and the terrace, and relax.”
Instead of taking the hint and taking the escape, she stood in front of him, a quizzical expression replacing the annoyance. “You’re going to continue to work?”
“There’s stuff to do.” His gesture encompassed the street filled with storm debris. “But I don’t need your help.”
“Don’t you?” The question was lazy, almost languid.
Instinct shot through him. An age-old male instinct to be aware around a female when they spoke like that.
She smiled.
A simple, ordinary thing. Something he’d received many times from many women, especially in the last few years due to his money. Yet, this smile gave him the shivers, unlike all the other times when he took female smiles in stride.
“Go on,” he urged, waving at the keys on the sandy ground. “Take the Jeep.”
“You’re running scared, aren’t you.”
It wasn’t a question she asked. He folded his arms in front of him, a defensive move he couldn’t contain. “Go on.”
“Nope.” Leaning down, she grabbed the keys and threw them back at him.
They seesawed in and out of his hand before falling to the ground once more. “Coño.”
“Since you don’t want to kiss anymore and you don’t need my help with the cleaning up any longer—” she turned to look toward the beach “—I’m going swimming.”
The image of her naked and dancing in the shallows tore through him like a gale-force wind. “I told you, no swimming. You don’t have a swimsuit.”
She gave him a disbelieving stare, as if she doubted his sanity about such a small thing as a suit to swim in. “Seriously? That matters on a hot day like this?”
“This is my ocean, and I say no.”
Her stare went from disbelief to incredulity. “Last time I checked, the ocean isn’t owned by anyone.”
“This beach is mine.” A roiling ache pulled inside, an ache to see her naked and happy in the water. He pushed it away. “And I say no swimming.”
She gave him one more wide-eyed glance before walking toward the sand and ocean, her chin jutting out. “Don’t look, and you won’t see me disobeying one of your many orders.”
Don’t look. As if that was a possibility. His brain scrambled, looking for another obstacle besides his objections. “There are riptides.”
“I’m a good swimmer.” Picking up the pace, she left him in her wake. “Don’t worry about me.”
Stymied, Riq watched her stride off. He couldn’t help it when his gaze strayed to her shapely ass. Her legs were dirty, the shorts sagged. However, nothing could detract from the swing of her hips and the soft contour of her butt.
The tent in his own shorts rose again, much to his disgust. He turned away and tried to focus on the tree limbs and palm leaves dotting the road.
A splash caused his head to jerk around. There was a pile of clothes at the edge of the sea. Naked. She’d gone in naked. He’d known she would, and still, the reality of it punched him like a hard fist.
His imagination went wild.
Breasts bobbing in the blue water, her nipples taut. Curving waist and hips, her stomach plush, her thighs flexing as she stroked.
“Coño,” he mumbled.
Reaching down, he grabbed his car keys. Jiggs wandered into the street, leaving the shaded porch where he’d been hiding from the heat. He woofed once and then headed toward the water.
His dog loved water.
He also couldn’t swim worth a damn. Unlike most dogs, he hadn’t inherited the ability to instinctively do the doggy paddle.
“Don’t think about it,” he growled at the departing dog. “Jiggs. No.”
Just like the princesa, his buddy ignored him. Instead, the animal picked up his pace, his tongue lolling from his mouth, his short legs scurrying toward the ocean.
“Me cago en diez.” Limping into a run, he followed his loping dog, but couldn’t catch him before he got to the dock.
Jiggs wasn’t content with starting in the shallows of the sea. He preferred to go to the end of the dock before jumping in. The clatter of toenails on wood warned Riq he only had a few more seconds to catch his buddy. “Jiggs—”
The dog launched himself off the far end of the dock, his furry, round body wiggling in the air before landing in the water with a splat.
A blonde head popped out of the water right next to the splash. She whipped her wet hair over one shoulder, her expression puzzled, as if wondering what had caused the disturbance in the sea.
Hating his limp, he hit the beginning of the dock. But there w
asn’t time and she was there.
“Get Jiggs,” he ordered.
Her head turned to stare at him. “What?”
“The dog jumped.” He gestured toward the area where his dog had disappeared. “Right next to you.”
She glanced around. “I don’t see him.”
“He can’t swim,” he bellowed with building fear. “He sinks.”
Her eyes widened before she dipped her head under the water. Within a second, she appeared again, holding the waterlogged dog in one arm. He hobbled to the end of the dock and leaned over. “Give him to me.”
With her other arm, she stroked to the dock and stared up at him. “He’s fine.”
“Lift him.” He needed to see for himself. His heart continued to beat in a worried bang bang.
The dog woofed, his eyes shining with happiness.
“ Jesús, Jiggs,” he grumbled. “You’re an idiot.”
She looked at him, then at the dog. And laughed.
Her joy-filled whoop reverberated in the air, lifting the worry from his heart and replacing it with a charmed elation. Trying to ignore the feeling welling inside, he barked at her, “Give him to me.”
“I don’t think he wants to get out.” She placed a kiss on the dog’s snout. “And I can’t anyway. My feet aren’t on the sea floor, so I don’t have the strength.”
“Hold still.” He thought about pulling off his shorts, except his cock was half-hard and he didn’t want to give the kissing princesa any ideas. Jumping in, he let the water take him under, the coolness sliding across his sweaty skin, washing away his panic for his dog and his passion for the woman.
Almost.
He came out of the water to find her and his dog close. Too close. “Give him here.”
When she obeyed his order, he regretted it instantly. In the clear water of his bay, he saw everything he’d imagined moments ago. Her bouncy breasts. Her trim waist. Her curvy hips and thighs.
Under the water, his cock went fully erect. Riq wrenched his gaze up. To meet twinkling blue eyes and pouty, pretty lips.
He scowled. “You should get dressed.”
“Should I?” With a lazy stroke, she drew closer.
Close enough that he became fascinated by the lushness of her long lashes and the way they contrasted with her darker blonde brows. Droplets of water glistened on her skin, making it glow and sparkle. Her hair was plastered to her head, emphasizing the perfection of the contour of her head and the line of her jaw.
Before he could move away, she came right to his side in the water. Yet, instead of touching him, teasing him, she leaned in and placed another kiss on Jiggs’ nose. “I love this dog.”
“He’s mine.” His arm tightened, and his buddy yelped.
“I know.” Her gaze narrowed, as if trying to figure him out. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t love him, too.”
Her hands moved in the water, keeping her afloat. The movement was strangely mesmerizing, and if it weren’t for the breasts bobbing right in front of him, Riq might have been tempted to keep staring.
He twisted around and waded through the sea, heading for the beach.
“The water is nice, isn’t it? After all the work we’ve done, it’s wonderful to cool off.” The calm, even tone in her voice belied the look he’d just seen in her eyes.
He kept moving away. Jiggs yipped in simmering rebellion, which he ignored. “The work isn’t done, even though I’ve let you skate off from helping me.”
“You insisted.”
“Because you’d just be in the way doing the heavier work in the village.” His flip-flops snagged on a piece of seaweed and he cursed. It was as though the sea and his dog were conspiring to keep him near her.
“I would not.” Outrage filled her claim. “I could help you drag the debris off the street, at least.”
He glanced back, throwing her a token sneer. “You can barely take care of yourself, much less help me.”
The dog whined in his grasp as though he was losing his best friend.
His owner was his best friend.
Not the princesa.
“Come on, Jiggs,” he muttered. “Get a grip.”
A female sigh of exasperation wandered across the surface of the water to wrap around him like a siren’s arms. “Why are you being mean again? Why not stay in the water and play?”
Play. He snorted. There would be no playing if he stayed in here with her naked. “The dog will drown.”
“Does he have a leash?” A splash indicated she drew nearer. “We could tie him to the end of the dock so he could only come into the water so far.”
To his relief, he waded from the water and out of temptation, his hands full with his buddy, his shorts sodden and soaked.
“Isn’t that a good—?”
Her question got cut off with a gasp.
He assumed it was because his shorts lost the will to hang on and promptly dropped to the sand at his ankles.
Leaving him bare-ass naked.
Jiggs panted in his arms, looking at him with his usual adoration. If he let him go, the dog would likely return to the ocean’s water, drowning in a matter of seconds.
“Coño carajo!”
Her answer was a big, boisterous laugh.
Chapter 20
There was something about this man that made Risa want to poke and prod. Something about his attitude that called to her inner heart, asking her to come out and play. Something about Enrique de Molina that made her want to jump into an adventure and live a life she’d never thought to live. Risa blamed all her actions in the last hour on that something about him.
Her bold questions she still wanted answered.
Her stripping and jumping into the sea, secretly wanting him to look.
Her teasing about them staying together in the water.
Because he was so adorably prudish and delightfully frustrated at the passion blossoming between them.
The passion she’d never experienced with Spencer.
The thought of her boyfriend stopped her. Grabbing onto the wooden steps of the dock, she frowned.
Ex-boyfriend.
And the love of her life seemed so far away. Like he’d disappeared in a puff of smoke. Or like she’d been transported into another life on a magical island with a man who tangled inside her, impossible to dislodge. A man whose body was as gorgeous as anything she’d seen. Ever. Even though he did stand there with his shorts around his ankles.
The sight made her giggle again.
His beautiful bare ass tightened at the sound.
The giggle ended with a choke of desire. “Turn around. I dare you.”
At her challenge, he threw her a dirty look over his shoulder before stepping out of his shorts and striding toward the Jeep with his dog in his arms. When his bare ass didn’t move, it was pure manly allure. When he did move, that ass became a study in a symmetry of the best male body she’d ever seen. Her gaze slid from the ass, up to his tattoos, and, if it were possible, his beauty stunned her even more.
He plopped the dog on its legs on the beach. “Stay.”
Jiggs swiveled to stare at her, and she could almost see the wheels in the animal’s head turning.
“Stay.” The command turned gruff, as his owner opened the back door of the Jeep and leaned in. The action drew her attention to the area between his flexing thighs and if she’d been cool in the water before, she now felt hot all over.
The man looked big down there. She couldn’t see everything, but she got enough to catch a strong hint.
With a yap, his dog took off, heading straight for her and the ocean. She couldn’t help the laugh coming from her belly.
“Come Mierda.” The caveman jerked his head out of the car, and turned, a leash in hand. The scowl on his face was incredibly cute and amusing, but she didn’t focus on his expression for long.
Yes. He was big all over.
She must have signaled her interest, because he swore again and yanked the door to cover himself.
The tease was impossible to contain. “Aren’t you going to save your dog?”
“Me cago en diez.” For a moment, he looked bewildered, as if he didn’t know how he’d arrived in this situation.
She laughed again.
Adorably, his scowl returned.
His dog returned to the water as well, with a loud woof and a large splash.
Risa caught the look of panic on the man’s face and her heart went to mush. With a flip of her feet, she swam toward where the dog disappeared. “Don’t worry. I’ll save him—”
“The dumb dog doesn’t—”
“Swim. I’ll get him.” She came around the end of the dock and in the clear water, spotted Jiggs right away. With one grab, she got his collar and pulled him into her arms once more.
Turning, she gave the sullen man by the car a smile. “I guess your dog and I are going to have to come to you, huh?”
He got it. The guy might be a caveman, but he wasn’t stupid. His lips firmed. “Don’t.”
Naked. She was going to walk right out of the ocean naked. Being a Florida girl, she had no trouble showing skin. Her bikinis tended to be tiny bits of nylon, and she’d done her fair share of topless sunbathing in Europe.
However, she’d never walked toward a man fully naked on an open beach.
Not for one second, did she hesitate. Because this man set off something inside her, a wicked, wild part of her she’d never realized she had. She wanted to provoke him, challenge him, make him sweat.
She smiled.
“Oh, fuck,” he growled, before issuing the order again. “Don’t.”
Ignoring him, she snuggled the panting dog in one arm, and struck out for shore with the other.
His thick brows furrowed before he ducked inside the Jeep once more. The sounds of a man scrambling for his armour or perhaps a towel, made her grin.
She reached the beach and dropped Jiggs on his stout legs. “Come with me.”
The dog panted and took off when she did, obediently following her lead.
Toward the car. Toward the naked man.
Toward a guy who had no idea what he’d created inside her.